Abbie asks: Have you seen me?

So there I was....minding my own business, as I usually do, when out of nowhere this face became the one that I know will haunt my dreams. I was walking to my car, which was parked on level two of the parking ramp at work. As I approach the vehicle I notice a very large form sitting on top of my car right above where the driver's door meets the rest of the car. As I get closer I realize that perched on top of my car is what one who is uneducated in the animal life on the U campus would assume to be a cross between a very large kangaroo and a somewhat smallish Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. I am not one of those people and so I knew exactly what I was dealing with. It was a Tamiasciurus UOFMUS, commonly known as a Squirrel from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus region. This is no ordinary squirrel.
I walked closer to the car making as much noise as possible to try and scare it away. This did nothing. I then proceeded to lock and unlock my car repeatedly hoping this would do the trick. This in turn only alerted the monster to the fact that he was not sitting on a park bench.
Now, part of the problem involves the fact that I park directly underneath an oak tree at home. It is Autumn as you probably know and the acorns are falling off the tree about as rapidly as NFL players are having season ending injuries. There are acorns EVERYWHERE. I have been using my windshield wipers in the morning just so I can see out my window and I try to go from 0 to 60 mph as fast as possible just to lose a few. There are even 10 or so embedded into my paint job.
This being said, the scary monster was eating away at some of these acorns, not fazed in the least by my attempts to rid him from my car. All at once, he spotted me. He looked right at me and.....STAYED PUT. He was not moving. He was however, ever so slightly preparing for the attack if I should try to get any closer to the car (aka his personal vending machine). Now, if you know me at all, you know that I am afraid of pretty much everything. Once I screamed at the sight of a pillow because I though it was smiling at me. This being said I did what any sane person would do in this situation. I walked slowly over to the passenger side of my car as I was calling my co-worker on my cell for reinforcements. I slowly climbed into the car as I hyperventilated into the phone while explaining the situation to my on call sidekick. I shut the door and started to climb over the center console to make for a quick getaway. Just then....my panic button went off on the remote that I had in my hand the WHOLE time. Mr. Scary Monster scurried away faster than Michael Johnson ever ran with his gold shoes. Needless to say, if I ever see that squirrel again....the panic button will be in hand!

I'll penalize you!

Hey there, long time. Sorry about that. I am sure all of you readers (Hi mom!) have been on the edges of your seats just waiting for the next installment of this VERY exciting blog. So here we go.

Things have been going pretty well. The new church is great. Love the sermons, adjusting to the music (and not being a part of it), trying to figure out how to get involved. The move has been pushed back to November. I will SO enjoy being closer to work and Church but I am also trying to make sure I find a place that I can stay for awhile. I am not a fan of moving.

Isabelle turned 7 this year and I am feeling older by the minute. I can't believe I am an aunt of three and 2 of them speak more Spanish from their Dora movies then I learned in three years of high school. I am still waking up to find new, strange bruises on my arms and have deducted that I am indeed.....a ninja by night. It is the only explanation.

Work is going well. I still have yet to cry at my "new" job. Side note: When does a job stop being new? My co-workers try to find new ways to make it happen. There have been many attempts to yell at me, steal my lunch, pretend my dog died and my new favorite....poke me in one of my already multi-colored bruises. The last option didn't evoke tears...it only made soda come out my nose.

A little over a month ago I had to report a customer that was calling in pretending to be a nurse and prescribing for herself. I found out this week that she was fired. I also found out I may be getting subpoenaed. I am not too scared as this will be the third time that has happened and nothing has ever come of it (except that I had to change my name and promise to never speak to my family again). We'll keep you posted on that one.

This week I had a patient who's co-pay through their insurance was over $800 for a month supply. I called the insurance to find out why and they said that they were penalizing the patient for needing to get the brand name. Now understand that I don't typically root for patients who request brand name and tell me they "don't like those damn genetic (no this is not a typo) drugs!". In this instance though I am inclined to be a little more understanding. It was for a transplant patient and it was their anti-rejection med. The doctor said that we must dispense brand name because they don't think the generic works as well in this situation. Not something I would want to compromise. Even though it was per the doctors request and they filled out all the required paperwork to get the brand name approved the insurance company still wanted to "penalize (their words)" the patient for this request. If the patient received the generic version...their co-pay went from $800 to....$0. I was outraged. I have had it up to here (visualize me drawing a line over my head) with insurance companies. That is all I have to say about that one. Except that I would like to penalize them. Alright....I am out of here. Hope all is well with all of you (again...hi mom!). Peace out!!!